Bibliography: pages 166-176. / Broadly the aim of the project was to study the so-called Strandloopers through the excavation of open station shell midden sites. Aspects such as who they were, how they interacted with the coastal environment and their relationship to inland peoples were to be considered. This was to involve the investigation of an area considered to be representative of varying environmental conditions and therefore offering different opportunity and scope for coastal occupation. The . existence of subsistence strategies related to these differing conditions was to be explored through a study of the structure end composition of midden sites. Evidence for coastal/inland links and their meaning would be sought.

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This study explores how vernacular understandings of climate change and sustainability are formed in relation to local disputes concerning mineral exploration. In a search for a solution to climate change, the interest in rare earth elements (REEs), and other metals used in green technology has resulted in granting mining companies processing concessions in Sweden. At the same time, industrial scale metal extraction imposes great risks to the local environment. Offering an ethnological view on local resistance to mining in two areas in Sweden where mining corporations has been granted processing concessions for exploratory drilling, this study seeks to contribute to a theoretical discussion regarding the dialectical relationship between the material and the spatial and its influence on vernacular understandings of mining as a solution towards decreased environmental impact. Applying a phenomenological framework, this study analyzes how sustainability as a diversified concept is constructed through social and cultural practices in the everyday life. Through in-depth interviews with local inhabitants who have chosen to protest against mining establishment in two southern areas in Sweden, themes such as temporality, local cultural and historical identity, and the NIMBY-phenomenon is addressed. This study finds several climate change temporalities within the local resistance movements. Various time-scales intertwine, together stretching both the need for the slow pace of natural preservation, and immediacy through de-growth. These time-scales are in turn shaped by knowledge of the areas cultural history, as well as personal family heritage. Expressions holding temporal connotations, such as eternal destruction and permanent damage, indicate that conceptions of climate change and sustainability are shaped by current media climate change discourse. The positions in the local conflicts are continuously negotiated, as objecting to mineral exploration is considered an obstacle to necessary change towards fossil fuel dependency. This study concludes that local activism in the shadow of societal transformation into a green economy ultimately transforms into a question concerning what kind of nature that matters, and how we measure its value.

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This dissertation is based on the study that has been conducted in the form of an ethnographic field research in Nardaran, an ancient Azeri village of Absheron peninsula, Baku, Azerbaijan. As a result of many historical and political reasons it can be argued that the two nation states, Azerbaijan and Iran, have not been overly friendly throughout the history. However, interestingly enough, Nardarani villagers, unlike the broader Azeri society, are tightly linked to Iran. Therefore, the primary goal of this dissertation is to investigate the prominent reasons, which rendered these villagers Iranian proponents. By adopting the concept of ‘hegemony’ as primary theoretical approach, the dissertation primarily investigates the hegemonic efforts of Iran upon Nardaran to account for the current situation and the future of the village. After looking at the broader Azerbaijan and the rural communities of the region and providing a selective historical sketch, it is the aim of the study to provide the reader with the opportunity to make comparisons and to locate Nardaran within the broader picture. In what follows, it presents the Iranian hegemonic consequences upon the village and seeks to identify the implications of the concept of change over Nardaran. Finally, the study investigates the underlying reasons and the processes that led to the aferomentioned situation under the title of ‘hegemony and peaceful mechanisms of change’. Since the study is the only anthropological one that specifically handles Nardaran, the researcher tried to conduct the research in the form of an anthropological community study. Accordingly, the dissertation attempts to take an overall picture of the village. This manner, namely adopting a holistic approach, was not only useful but also necessary in terms of answering the research questions. In other words, looking at the history, geography, economy, material culture, environmental design and so forth, seem to be essential in terms of understanding the case of Nardaran.

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Thesis (Ph.D.) - James Cook University, 2003. / Typescript (photocopy) Bibliography: leaves 341-367.